Hyderabad: The Rajendernagar police has taken Pramod Kumar, the owner of Om Avone Air Coolers, into custody after the fire in his godown in which six workers were killed. But they have not formally arrested him as investigations are going on.
Rajendernagar inspector V. Umender said, “A case has been registered against the owner under Section 304, Clause (2) for culpable homicide. However, we haven’t arrested him as we are investigating the matter. The workers are Irfan Khan, Md. Saddam, Ayub Khan and Shahrukh. Their bodies were shifted to Osmania Hospital for post-mortem, and families were informed.”
Police said the families of the victims are on way from their hometowns and the bodies will be handed over on Friday. The bodies of the dead were identified by two of their friends. Meanwhile, this correspondent also spoke to the residents and neighbouring establishments to get their reactions.
Mr Alok Kumar, who lives in a neighbouring apartment complex said, “We came to know about the incident when there was a lot of commotion in the area. There were reports that a gas cylinder exploded in the under construction building. Our building was just behind it. It would have been terrible if the fire had spread.”
He added, “We are deeply saddened by the incident which claimed six lives, but we never knew that they were staying in the godown at night. Generally the workers here are migrants. They stay here for some days and leave for their states. So we never know about their movements.”
Mr. K. Anjaneyulu, a worker who works in a nearby establishment said, “The boys who died used to come and have tea every morning and evening in the small tea stall opposite their godown. As I also work in the area we used to meet and talk at the tea stall as that is the place where labourers usually meet.”
Fires at two places in the Hyderabad
A minor fire broke out at the Reliance Digital showroom in Kacheguda. The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the server room. A power bank in the server room caught fire as it was heavily loaded with electrical wires. A demo room near the server room was also damaged in the fire, said station fire officer J. Rajkumar. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. There were no causalities
Meanwhile, another fire broke out in the godown of a fire extinguisher refilling centre at Sanathnagar. This fire also started due to a short circuit. Mr. Md Mustafa, the station fire officer said, “Current fluctuations were the main reason for the short circuit.” The owners of the godown had stocked gas cylinders. The fire was minimal but the smoke was huge. A fire tender and a mist bullet were rushed to the spot. There were no causalities."
